I spent about 3 weeks out in Montana for Primal Quest, and I found it interesting that most of the AR community is incredibly well-traveled.
Whether volunteers, staff, or racers, it seemed like everybody had been outside of the US. Many of the top racers have been on seemingly every continent.
So it’s no wonder that I enjoy dealing with this crowd – people who travel have a different worldview and mindset than your typical American who has never been outside of the reach of the stars and stripes.
There’s just something about global travel that changes a person, gives them a broader view of humanity, a brighter outlook on life, a more logical perspective on what constitutes a "big deal". The same could be said, I think, of what happens to people who are able to complete adventure races like PQ.
And it’s probably too that people who travel a lot are just wired similarly to me, so perhaps that plays a role in my interactions with them as well.
Regardless, working with Primal Quest and the adventure racing community as a whole the past couple years has just been a great experience. Such cool people.